Spatial variation of pollen receipt and effects of heterospecific pollen on seed set in Salvia przewalskii

Generalized pollinators visit multiple co-flowering plant species and may transfer heterospecific pollen grains. Recent studies have indicated that the effect of heterospecific pollen (HP) on reproduction success is variable and depends on the identity of donor and recipient species. However, few studies have documented variation in HP receipt and evaluated the reproductive effects of HP receipt across geographic locations under natural conditions. We investigated the spatial variation of pollen deposition across eight sites and how the pollen receipt related to the seed set of Salvia przewalskii, a subalpine perennial herb in Hengduan Mountain in southwest China. We found that stigmatic pollen loads substantially varied among sites for several metrics, including quantities of conspecific and heterospecific pollen, the proportion of HP, and species composition of HP donors. Five different plant families were the most common HP source at one or two sites, and the proportion of HP ranged from 3.4% to 51.3% across sites. The association of conspecific pollen with seed set was positive and variable among sites, whereas the association of HP receipt and seed set was negative and not significantly different among sites. Our results demonstrate variation in the quantity and fitness effect of pollen receipt across sites, which is a precondition for evolution of local adaptation. Further study of variation in patterns and effects of HP receipt for the same recipient species across natural communities would allow better understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of HP receipt.

Pollen limitation of native plant reproduction in an urban landscape

PREMISE

Evidence suggests that bees may benefit from moderate levels of human development. However, the effects of human development on pollination and reproduction of bee-pollinated plants are less-well understood. Studies have measured natural variation in pollination and plant reproduction as a function of urbanization, but few have experimentally measured the magnitude of pollen limitation in urban vs. non-urban sites. Doing so is important to unambiguously link changes in pollination to plant reproduction. Previous work in the Southeastern United States found that urban sites supported twice the abundance of bees compared to non-urban sites. We tested the hypothesis that greater bee abundance in some of the same urban sites translates into reduced pollen limitation compared to non-urban sites.

METHODS

We manipulated pollination to three native, wild-growing, bee-pollinated plants: Gelsemium sempervirens, Oenothera fruticosa, and Campsis radicans. Using supplemental pollinations, we tested for pollen limitation of three components of female reproduction in paired urban and non-urban sites. We also measured pollen receipt as a proxy for pollinator visitation.

RESULTS

We found that all three plant species were pollen-limited for some measures of female reproduction. However, opposite to our original hypothesis, two of the three species were more pollen-limited in urban relative to non-urban sites. We found that open-pollinated flowers in urban sites received less conspecific and more heterospecific pollen on average than those in non-urban sites.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that even when urban sites have more abundant pollinators, this may not alleviate pollen limitation of native plant reproduction in urban landscapes.

Covering and shading by neighbouring plants diminish pollinator visits to and reproductive success of a forest edge specialist dwarf species

The pollination and reproductive success of flowering plants can be negatively influenced in various ways by neighbouring heterospecific plants, such as resource competition and reproductive interference. We hypothesized that covering together with shading by neighbouring plants may reduce pollinator visits to and reproductive success of plants by reducing floral attractiveness and pollinator activity and by interrupting flower access, respectively. To test this hypothesis, we examined whether shaded and covered flowers suffered from pollinator limitation and low reproductive success in a population of the dwarf herb Lithospermum zollingeri, which co-exists with woody and herbaceous plants in anthropogenically maintained forest edge meadows. Here, shaded and covered flowers were defined as those beneath the shade of the woods and those whose front portion was covered by any vegetative part of neighbouring plants, respectively. The shaded and covered flowers were visited by significantly fewer pollinators than sunlit and open flowers in the field. However, three major pollinator species responded differently to shading and covering. Significant pollen limitation reduced seed set in covered flowers, and shaded flowers produced fewer seeds. Pollen removal from the anthers was not influenced by shading or covering. Our study demonstrates the negative effects of covering on pollinator visits and seed production. It also elucidates the negative effects of shading on reproductive success in L. zollingeri, which depends on managed semi-natural conditions. Land management abandonment, which has increased shaded and covered conditions in artificial forest edge meadows and open forest floors, might promote a rapid reduction in the populations of such dwarf plants.

Does sexual dimorphism exist in flowering phenology traits in anemophilous dioecious species? A test with Rumex acetosa

PREMISE

Sexual dimorphism in flowering phenology traits may have evolved under sexual selection and vector-mediated selection. The conspicuous sexual dimorphism and sex-specific selection pressures in flowering phenology traits have been investigated mainly in entomophilous dioecious plants, whereas little is known about this in anemophilous plants.

METHODS

We examined sexual dimorphism in flowering onset, flowering peak, flowering duration, maximum proportion of open flowers per inflorescence branch, maximum proportion of newly opening flowers on a given date per branch, and longevity of individual flowers in natural Rumex acetosa populations. Correlations between flowering phenology traits and the degree of flowering overlap with the opposite sex were examined. We also tested whether the overlap of female flowering with male flowering enhanced seed set in female plants.

RESULTS

Little sexual dimorphism was observed in flowering onset, peak, duration, and maximum proportion of newly opening flowers. Females had greater floral longevity and greater maximum proportion of open flowers than males. Flowering overlap with the opposite sex significantly increased with the maximum proportion of newly opening flowers and decreased with temporal deviation in the flowering peak in both sexes. Females with greater flowering overlap with males set more seeds in two of the three study populations.

CONCLUSIONS

In wind-pollinated R. acetosa, little sexual dimorphism in phenological traits may have evolved to achieve synchronous flowering with the opposite sex. Our results suggest that, in angiosperms, not only common selection but also anemophily-specific selection may shape little sexual dimorphism in R. acetosa, unlike in entomophilous plants.

Pollination success following loss of a frequent pollinator: the role of compensatory visitation by other effective pollinators

Pollinator abundance is declining worldwide and may lower the quantity and quality of pollination services to flowering plant populations. Loss of an important pollinator is often assumed to reduce the amount of pollen received by stigmas of a focal species (pollination success), yet this assumption has rarely been tested experimentally. The magnitude of the effect, if any, may depend on the relative efficiency of the remaining pollinators, and on whether the loss of one pollinator leads to changes in visitation patterns by other pollinators. To explore how a change in pollinator composition influences pollination of Asclepias verticillata, we excluded bumble bees from plots in large and small populations of this milkweed species. We then quantified pollinator visitation rates, pollen export and pollen receipt for control plots and for plots where bumble bees were experimentally excluded. We found that exclusion of bumble bees did not reduce pollen receipt by A. verticillata flowers. Visitation by Polistes wasps increased markedly following bumble bee exclusion, both in small populations (186 % increase) and in large populations (400 % increase). Because Polistes wasps were as efficient as bumble bees at pollen transfer, increased wasp visitation offset lost bumble bee pollination services. Thus, loss of a frequent pollinator will not necessarily lead to a decline in pollination success. When pollinator loss is followed by a shift in the composition and abundance of remaining pollinators, pollination success will depend on the net change in the quantity and quality of pollination services.

Modest Pollen Limitation of Lifetime Seed Production Is in Good Agreement with Modest Uncertainty in Whole-Plant Pollen Receipt

We recently introduced a model that predicts the degree to which a plant's lifetime seed production may be constrained by unpredictable shortfalls of pollen receipt ("pollen limitation"). Burd's comment in this issue criticized our analysis, first by arguing that the empirical literature documents much higher levels of pollen limitation than our model predicts and then suggesting that the apparent discrepancy stemmed from our (1) underestimating the costs of securing a fertilized ovule and (2) assuming too little unpredictability in whole-plant pollen receipt. We reply as follows. First, the empirical literature must be consulted carefully. Burd relies on pollen supplementation experiments performed on parts of plants or on whole plants but during only one reproductive season for polycarpic perennials; in both cases, resource reallocation often leads to gross overestimates of pollen limitation. We comprehensively review pollen limitation estimates that are free of these estimation problems and find strong agreement with our model predictions. Second, although cost estimates for different components of seed production are imprecise, errors are likely to be small relative to the >1,000-fold differences observed across plant species, the primary focus of our article. Finally, contrary to Burd's argument, pollen receipt by entire plants is much more predictable than that by individual flowers because the flower-to-flower variation "averages out" when summed across many flowers. Our model uses parameter values that are in broad agreement with the empirical record of modest plant-to-plant variation in pollen receipt and thus predicts the generally modest pollen limitation that is observed in nature.

Pistillate flowers experience more pollen limitation and less geitonogamy than perfect flowers in a gynomonoecious herb

Gynomonoecy, a sexual system in which plants have both pistillate (female) flowers and perfect (hermaphroditic) flowers, occurs in at least 15 families, but the differential reproductive strategies of the two flower morphs within one individual remain unclear. Racemes of Eremurus anisopterus (Xanthorrhoeaceae) have basal pistillate and distal perfect flowers. To compare sex allocation and reproductive success between the two flower morphs, we measured floral traits, pollinator preferences, and pollen movement in the field. Pollen limitation was more severe in pistillate flowers; bee pollinators preferred to visit perfect flowers, which were also capable of partial self-fertilization. Pollen-staining experiments indicated that perfect flowers received a higher proportion of intra-plant pollen (geitonogamy) than pistillate flowers. Plants with greater numbers of pistillate flowers received more outcross pollen. The differential reproductive success conformed with differential floral sex allocation, in which pistillate flowers produce fewer but larger ovules, resulting in outcrossed seeds. Our flower manipulations in these nectarless gynomonoecious plants demonstrated that perfect flowers promote seed quantity in that they are more attractive to pollinators, while pistillate flowers compensate for the loss of male function through better seed quality. These results are consistent with the outcrossing-benefit hypothesis for gynomonoecy.

Pollination function transferred: modified tepals of Albuca (Hyacinthaceae) serve as secondary stigmas

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The stigma, a structure which serves as a site for pollen receipt and germination, has been assumed to have evolved once, as a modification of carpels, in early angiosperms. Here it is shown that a functional stigma has evolved secondarily from modified tepals in some Albuca species (Hyacinthaceae).

METHODS

Deposition of pollen on Albuca floral organs by bees was recorded. Pollen germination and fruit set was measured in flowers that had pollen deposited solely on their tepals or had their tepal tips experimentally isolated or removed after pollination.

KEY RESULTS

Leafcutter bees deposit pollen onto the papillate apices of the inner tepals of Albuca flowers. Pollen germinates in tepal-derived fluid secreted 2 or 3 d after anthesis and pollen tubes subsequently penetrate the style during flower wilting. Application of cross-pollen to the inner tepal apices of A. setosa flowers led to high fruit set. No fruits were produced in pollinated flowers in which the inner tepals were mechanically isolated or removed.

CONCLUSIONS

Pollen capture by tepals in the Albuca clade probably evolved in response to selection for floral morphology that maximizes the accuracy of pollen transfer. These findings show how pollination function can be transferred among floral organs, and shed light on how the original angiosperm stigma developed from sporophylls.